Jessica, never having gone below stands sticking her head into the shaft watching the others climb. As Besmara climbs past her Jessica runs out to the stairs and tries to figure out where the room is. She opens the doors in a rush to get to her Captain
Trytton continues his habit of carefully searching wherever they go, as he finds things he lays them out on the table, with the things pulled from the body.
"I don't see anything else here." He says as he makes way to the door, opening it
As Jessica runs up and through the corridor, she steps on a loose floorboard. This is answered by a blade coming out of the wall.
"F#!#!" Jessica swears as the blade connects. "Who the f%%@ keeps a f~@+ing blade in the f$%$ing corridor! F%&#!" She spews profanity at it, dulling the pain slightly.
She clasps at her side as she runs on, slightly, but not much, more cautiously than earlier.
At the end of the corridor Jessica stumbles upon Trytton who unlocks the bedroom from inside.
What was that yell?
"It was me getting stabbed." Jessica says as she makes her way over to the bed to collapse next to her captain.
"I'm not feeling too great, Captain." she says falling onto the bed, trying to curl into a ball next to Besmara
Gods the two of them on the bed... why the hell did I agree to that marriage?
Looking closely at Jessica Lito says:
Sandara will need to look at you, but I can help a little.
He casts Cure Light Wounds and reaches out to gently touch her slash to at least keep her from passing out.
Jessica squirms under Lito's careful ministrations, brief as they are.
Besmara raises a brow.
"So the building is trying to kill us too then?" Trytton says as he steps out onto the landing.
He steps back into the room, about 30ft from the door oposite and starts to swirl water around himself and proceeds launches it at the door.
Poor door . Behind it a bed frame lacking mattresses and a dusty armoire in a recess on the southern wall are the only furniture in this disused but once fine bedchamber. A mechanical apparatus similar to a small arbalest is pointed against the west wall. The apparatus is the mechanism for the trap in the floor, Jessica ran into. It’s easy to reset or disable the trap from here.
Trytton moves in and starts a search
Kill us? Is the building alive?
There is nothing in this room.
"It's trapped." Trytton says a few minutes later making his way out of the room. He then repeats the procedure on the next door
Pale tiles line the walls and floor of this clean bathroom. A luxurious bath adorns the floor’s center and an ornate stone basin, an inset cabinet, and several mirrors are affixed to the walls. The cabinet holds
expensive perfumes and cosmetics.
"Someone might want some of this stuff." Trytton shouts into the hall as he makes his way to the next door.
Trytton might want bath. Be nice to relax in?
This room is unfurnished and dark. A door to the north wall leads into a passageway, and a jagged hole has been hewn through the floor, opening into the room below.
Wanna blow open this door as well, Trytton?
The last not opened door on the floor looks interesting. The strong wooden door leading into this room is locked and barred from the outside
Hold on... Don't open it yet.
Lito carefully moves closer to the door looking for traps all along the way. Then when he gets to the door he checks the door to see if he can see any poison or traps and if not lays his ear on the door to see if he can hear anything from the other side.
The trap on the way has already been disabled by Jessica. The stink of rot and decay comes through the closed door.
Lito moves away from the door and looks at the others.
Locked door, no trap, and it smells like death...
He looks over at Noonan.
Want to unbar it and smack down whatever is in there? It may be a ghast or ghoul...
Noonan unbars the door and unlocks it, ready for combat.
The stink of foulest rot and miasmic decay clog the air in this chamber. Along the west wall rests a heaped morass of mulch and slimy mud, and five open barrels stand in an alcove on the room’s southern side.
Two small creatures that look like fat babies, but grown as roots underground. They let out a nauseating shriek.
Oh crap Mandrogas! Close the... Blegh
Lito backs away holding his stomach.
Blergh
"What Lito was trying to say, is that these things are poisonous and obviously shriek." He says as he gather power and blasts it with water.
One mandroga is instantly killed by the blast of water. The other one comes over and swings its arm at Trytton - or nearby.
Noonan barfs
Besmara comes out of the bed as she hears the shrieks to look what the others are up to. As she sees Lito and Noonan rethinking their breakfast she asks "What's wrong?"
Bad nasty plants!
Lito staggers back managing to get his stomach under control.
Don't let them bite you, it' will confuse you!!!
Noonan stops barfing and starts getting real mad and attacks!
Noonan adds some really deep cuts to the mandragora. But it still stands. As Trytton prefers to pick his nose the plant gets the chance to hit back at Noonan. He dodges the slams bt the plant bites him and doesn't let go of him.
Owwwww! Kill this thing!
Lito yells:
Noonan I can’t kill it without risking hitting you, but I can help you get free. Don’t stop the spell.
Then he points and Noonan and casts Grease on him +10 to escape grapple.
Then he starts calling out suggestions directing where to hit the thing.
Noonan rages and starts making coleslaw with his claws
Noonan only manages to do minor damage to the plant. But that is enough to bring it down.
The room contains only the remains of some dead non humanoid creature that was used to feed the mandragoras.
There's got to be more around here someplace... Where did she keep her stores of stuff to sell?
Lito starts looking around
Ugh, me hurt Noonan drinks a CMW potion
"I think we have seen everything on that floor. Let's go down again." Besmara states and leads down to the first floor.
As you come down, two guards are standing at the base of the stairs with their weapons ready.
"Meh. Someone talk these guys out of dying for her already dead boss?" Besmara asks.
Your boss is dead, bleeding out trying to run away from her hidey hole in the basement. So are the monsters upstairs, and the guards that stood in our way.
Do you really want to join them?
Turn and walk away now and we won't pursue. No real reason to throw your life away for a contract that will never be paid... At least in my view, particularly for a boss who was going to just leave you to die as she ran like a scared rabbit.
The guards go out of the way and leave the corridor through the next door.